Research Section Kick-starts 2024 with Field Activities

Our Research Team has been busy throughout January, with various on-field activities. Earlier this month, the team visited Curiuese Island where they provided training for rangers, in respect to beach profiling techniques. Beach profiling allows us to monitor changes in the rate of sediment erosion and deposition along our coastlines. Beach height, width and slope alter over time and can therefore have significant impacts on wildlife, such as nesting sea turtles. With rising global sea levels and increasingly frequent storm surges, this type of monitoring is vital.

They also carried out coral restoration work in preparation for the upcoming El Nino event. They collected corals of opportunity and secured them to metal reef stars. To allow the monitoring of sea surface temperatures, a temperature logger was attached to the reef stars. Additionally, the team also tested out a shading technique on their ocean-based nurseries. According to recent research, this technique could potentially decrease the severity of coral bleaching. The team continues to monitor the corals to determine the utility of this mitigation method.